Legal Supplement Part A to the “Trinidad and Tobago Gazette”, Vol.

39,
No. 224, 10th November, 2000

Sixth Session Fifth Parliament Republic of Trinidad

and Tobago

REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Act No. 90 of 2000

[L.S.]

AN ACT to amend the Offences Against the Person Act,

Chap. 11:08
[Assented to 2nd November, 2000]
ENACTED by the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago as Enactment
follows:—

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Offences Against Short title
the Person (Amendment) Act, 2000.
1164 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such date

as the President may appoint by Proclamation.

Section 3 of the 2. Section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act

Act amended
Chap. 11:08 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) is renumbered as
section (1), and the following new subsection (2) is
added thereto:
“ (2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-
section (1), a person shall suffer death if he is
convicted of murder 1.”.

Sections 4D, 4E, 4F, 3. The Act is amended by inserting after section 4C
4G, 4H, 4I and 4J
inserted the following new sections:
Murder 1 4D. Murder 1 is the category of the
offence of murder as may be determined
under section 4J which is not reduced to
manslaughter or which is not required to
be punished as manslaughter under any
written law and consists of the offences
specified in section 4E.
Categories of 4E. (1) Subject to subsection (2), murder
Murder 1
committed in the following circumstances
is Murder 1, that is to say:
(a) the murder of—
(i) a member of the security
forces acting in the
execution of his duties or
of a person assisting a
member so acting;
(ii) a prison officer acting in
the execution of his duties
or of a person assisting a
prison officer so acting;
(iii) a judicial officer or legal
officer acting in the
execution of his duties or a
former judicial officer or
legal officer where the
murder was intentionally
No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000 1165

carried out in retaliation

for the performance of his
official duties,

and includes the murder of

any such member of the
security forces, prison officer,
judicial officer or legal officer
directly attributable to the
nature of his occupation;
(b) the murder of any person or
the immediate family member
of that person for any reason
directly attributable to—
(i) the status of that
person as a witness or
party in any pending
or concluded criminal
proceedings; or
(ii) the service or past
service of that person
as a juror in any
criminal trial;
(c) any murder committed by a
person in the course or
furtherance of an arrestable
offence involving violence;
(d) murder committed by means
of a destructive device, bomb
or explosive—
(i) planted, hidden, or
concealed in any place,
area, dwelling, building
or structure; or
1166 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

(ii) that the defendant

mailed or delivered,
attempted to mail or
deliver, or caused to be
mailed or delivered,
and the defendant
knew, or reasonably
should have known,
that his act would
create a great risk or
death to one or more
human beings;
(e) murder committed pursuant to
an arrangement whereby
money or anything of value—
(i) passes or is intended to
pass from one person to
another or to a third
party at the request or
direction of that
person; or
(ii) is promised by one
person to another or to
a third person at the
request or direction of
that other person,
as consideration for that other
reason causing or assisting in
causing the death of any
person or counselling or
procuring any person to do an
act causing or assisting in
causing that death;
(f) murder that is especially
heinous, atrocious or cruel,
manifesting exceptional
depravity;
No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000 1167

(g) murder where the deceased

was intentionally killed
because of his race, religion,
nationality or country or
origin.
(2) Where it is alleged that a person
accused of murder is guilty of murder 1,
the offence shall be charged as Murder 1
in the indictment.
(3) In this section—
“prison officer” has the same
meaning as in the Prison
Service Act; Chap. 13:02

“judicial officer” means—

(a) a Puisne Judge or a
Justice of Appeal, a
Master in Chambers or
any person for the time
being performing the
functions of a Puisne
Judge or a Justice of
Appeal or a Master in
Chambers;
(b) the Registrar or Deputy
Registrar of the Supreme
Court of Judicature, the
Board of Inland Revenue
or the Court of Appeal or
any person for the time
being performing the
functions of Registrar
or Deputy Registrar;
(c) a Magistrate or any
person for the time being
performing the functions
of a Magistrate;
1168 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

“immediate family member”

means a husband, wife,
father, mother, daughter,
son, brother, sister, step-
parent, grandparent, step-
child or grandchild;
“legal officer” means an officer of
the court who carries out the
function of the prosecution of
offences and includes State
attorneys in the office of
the Director of Public
Prosecutions, attorneys-at-
law engaged to carry out
functions on behalf of the
Director of Public Prosecu-
tions and police officers who
prosecute in the courts;
“member of the security forces”
means a member of—
(a) the Police Service;
(b) the Prison Service;
(c) the Defence Force to
the extent that such
member has been
assigned to act in aid of
the Police;
(d) the Special Reserve
Police;
“terrorism” means an act
involving the use of violence
by a person which, by reason
of its nature and extent, is
calculated to create a state of
fear in the public or any
section of the public.
No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000 1169

Non- 4F. Notwithstanding section 4—

applicability
of section 4 (a) a person convicted of murder
2 shall suffer death only in
the circumstances referred to
in section 4G;
(b) a person convicted of murder
3 shall not suffer death.

Multiple 4G. (1) A person convicted of Murder 2

murders
shall be sentenced to death, if before
conviction of that murder he has been
convicted in Trinidad and Tobago of
another murder, whether or not done on a
different occasion.
(2) Where, pursuant to subsection
(1), a person is charged with the murder of
two or more persons, no rule of practice
shall prevent the murders being charged
in the same indictment or, unless separate
trials are desirable in the interests of
justice, prevent them being tried together;
and where a person is convicted of two
murders tried together but done on
different occasions, subsection (1) shall
apply as if one conviction had preceded the
other.
Murder 2 4H. (1) Murder 2, subject to this section,
is the category of the offence of murder as
may be determined under section 4J that
is reduced to manslaughter or that is
required to be punished as manslaughter
under a written law, and includes, gross
negligence, mercy killing, recklessness as
to participation in the offence of murder,
the use of excessive force outside the
contemplation of section 4 of the Criminal
Chap. 10:04 Law Act, but does not include Murder 3 or
matters falling within Murder 1.
1170 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

(2) In this section—

“mercy killing” means an act or
acts otherwise amounting to
murder done with respect to
a patient in extremis in such
circumstances as demon-
strate the absence of culpable
malice aforethought.
Murder 3 4I. Murder 3 is involuntary homicide
committed otherwise than is referred to in
section 7 for which a person is liable to be
convicted, and includes manslaughter by
provocation, negligence and causing death
by reckless driving.
Discretion to 4J. (1) Notwithstanding anything in this
prosecution
Act or in any other law, in exercising his
discretion to prosecute for a category of
the offence of murder under sections 4D to
4 H the Director of Public Prosecutions
may—
(a) having regard to the nature of
the circumstances in which the
killing took place, himself
determine in which category
the offence falls; or
(b) in any case where he considers
the interest of justice so
requires apply to a Judge to
determine whether an
indictment shall lie and if so
for what category of the
offence.
(2) In any proceedings under
subsection (1)(b) any person who is
charged or to be charged or who is
No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000 1171

otherwise concerned with any offence

before the Judge or collateral thereto, or
who may be involved in the prosecution of
such offence has the right to be present
and to take part in the proceedings.
(3) No appeal shall lie from any
determination of a Judge under this
section.
(4) A determination under sub-
section (1) shall be taken to fix the
category of the offence for the purpose of
liability to conviction for any act or acts
amounting to, or consisting of Murder 1 or
Murder 2.

4. Section 6 of the Act is repealed and replaced as Section 6 of the Act

repealed and
follows: replaced
“Life 6. (1) Subject to the provisions of this
imprisonment
for Murder 2 Act every person who is convicted of

Murder 2 shall be sentenced to imprison-

ment for life.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law,
on sentencing any person convicted of
Murder 2 to imprisonment for life, the
Court may specify a period, being longer
than ten years, which that person should
serve before becoming eligible for parole.

Procedure 6A. (1) On an indictment charging a

person with capital murder, he may be
found not guilty of capital murder but
guilty of Murder 2.
(2) Capital murder shall be treated as
a distinct category of offence from Murder
2 for the purpose of any appeal against
conviction.
1172 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

(3) Where on an appeal against

conviction of capital murder the Court
substitutes a verdict of guilty of Murder 2
for the verdict of guilty of Murder 1, the
Court shall nevertheless determine
whether the sentence of death is
warranted by section 4 G (1) and shall
confirm that sentence if it is found to be so
warranted.
(4) Subject to the foregoing provisions
of this section, Murder 1 shall not be
treated as a different category from the
offence of Murder 2 for any purpose.
(5) A person referred to in section
4G(1) shall not by virtue of that subsection
be sentenced to death by reason of a
previous conviction for murder, unless—
(a) at least seven days before the
trial, notice is given to him
that it is intended to prove the
previous conviction; and
(b) before he is sentenced, his
previous conviction for murder
is admitted by him or is found
to be proven by the Jury.

Provisions as 6C. (1) Where a person is sentenced to

to appeals in
relation to death by virtue of section 4G(1), he shall
repeated and
multiple have the like right of appeal against the
sentence as if the appeal were against the
sentence as if the appeal were against a
conviction involving the sentence of death.
(2) On any such appeal against
sentence, the Court shall have the same
powers as to allowing or dismissing the
appeal as on an appeal against conviction;
and where the Court allows the appeal,
No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000 1173

and it appears to the Court that, having

regard to the decision on the appeal, the
sentence is not warranted in law, the
Court shall quash the sentence and pass
the appropriate sentence in substitution
for it.
(3) Where a person is sentenced to
death under section 4G(1), (which relates
to more than one conviction for murder)
and afterwards one of the convictions is
set aside on appeal—
(a) that person may apply to the
Court of Appeal to set aside
the sentence of death on the
ground that it is no longer
warranted in law having
regard to the decision on
appeal; and
(b) whether or not an application
is made under paragraph (a),
the Registrar of the Court of
Appeal shall notify the Court
that the sentence is one which
should be set aside on the
ground referred to in that
paragraph,
and the Court if satisfied that the sentence
is no longer warranted in law, shall set it
aside and pass the appropriate sentence in
substitution for it.
(4) Where a person is sentenced to
death as aforesaid then, unless he is so
sentenced on being convicted of Murder 1,
the sentence shall not in any case be
executed so long as the other conviction
can be set aside on appeal or by any other
legal process.
1174 No. 90 Offences Against the Person (Amendment) 2000

Provisions as 6D. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where a

to procedure
regarding two sentence of death is passed on a person
or more
murders tried
convicted of two or more murders tried
together together it shall be treated as passed in
respect of each of the convictions.
(2) If one of the convictions as
aforesaid is and any other is not set aside
on appeal, the Court deciding the appeal,
unless satisfied that the sentence remains
warranted in law in respect of any other
conviction, shall set the sentence aside and
pass the appropriate sentence in
substitution for it.”.
Section 54 amended 4A. The Act is amended in section 54 by—
(a) deleting the words “under the age of ten”
and substituting the words “under the age
of sixteen”; and
(b) deleting all the words commencing with the
words “but no person who claims to be the
father.”.
Chap. 10:04
amended
5. The Criminal Law Act is amended by substituting
for the word “murder” occurring in section 2A the words
“murder 1”.

Passed in the House of Representatives this 13th day

of October, 2000.
D. DOLLY
Acting Clerk of the House

Passed in the Senate this 24th day of October, 2000.

N. COX
Clerk of the Senate

Senate amendments agreed to by the House of

Representatives this 25th day of October, 2000.
D. DOLLY
Acting Clerk of the House
PRINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, PORT-OF-SPAIN
REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO—2000